Only Cologne, Hesse-Kassel, and the few states closely tied to the Habsburg Family gained nothing at all.
Naturally, the United Kingdom and the Habsburg Family suffered the greatest blows.
Hanover was carved up by Prussia, Brunswick, and Oldenburg, vanishing from the map of the European Continent forever.
Austria's directly administered territories within North Germany were also chopped apart and fed to the surrounding states, losing more than six thousand square kilometers.
Two days later, after all the "vacant land" had been completely distributed, the nations signed the Stuttgart Declaration to formalize the current borders.
Well, this was the result of a joint vote by all North German states. Anyone who refused to honor it in the future would be making an enemy of all North Germany.
There was, however, one detail that no one noticed. At Talleyrand's suggestion, the Declaration's effective date was set two months later, ostensibly to give the administrative departments of each country sufficient time to prepare. Only Joseph and a few senior diplomats knew that those two months had actually been reserved for Hesse-Darmstadt.
After the Stuttgart Declaration signing ceremony concluded, Joseph stood before a brand-new, enormous map of Western Europe and spoke impassionedly to everyone:
"At last, we have welcomed this great day.
"From this day forward, the eastern bank of the Rhine River will no longer suffer control and oppression from outside forces. All that will remain are equal, independent nations.
"But we should not be content with this. Having achieved peace, we must continue to focus on the development of our nations and forge a brilliant prosperity.
"As everyone knows, only extensive trade can promote the accumulation of wealth, and that first requires breaking down the trade barriers between nations.
"I propose that we append a Stuttgart Trade Agreement to the Stuttgart Declaration,